As I backed out of the garage, prepared to drive to Woodley Park in Van Nuys for the all- British Car Show, I was delighted to see clear skies and sunshine. Once I arrived at the venue I found the park had recovered its lawn and there was no wind – so no dust.
Driving over to the paddock assigned to the Healey’s I saw that a number of “big” Healeys and Sprites had already arrived. Chuck Meng and Greg Aden with their Bugeyes were getting set up alongside Russ Thompson and his Black Beauty and Joyce Maeda with her Florida Green over White 100-6. After parking, I was soon joined by Bill Hoyt, Dick Boyd, Dex Kaytis and Phil Caliva. Then the Orange County contingent pulled in, including Mike Scroggie, Tony Trentacost, Mike Biss, and Russ Steele. Corkey Holt and Lupita arrived in their BJ8 and Matt Meyer with girlfriend Jessica drove up in his Bugeye.
As cars from every marque: MG, Triumph, Jaguar, Singer, JensenHealey, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Morgan, Sunbeam, Land Rover, etc. filled the park more members from the club arrived. Chuck and Dawn Lakowski pulled in in their Jensen Healey.
They were in a separate paddock with six other JensenHealeys, a goodly number for that marque.
Also parking their cars were Ron Fine, David Thorne, and Win and Sue Phelps. A couple of newer members who hadn’t attended many events put in an appearance, Frank Powell and Greg Cosh, and were warmly greeted by the group. The final car to arrive was John and Darryl Hedblom’s Bugeye.
As the day progressed the crowds grew larger and our cars were really getting a lot of attention. The ultimate “car guy”, LA’s own Jay Leno, took time to visit the Healey paddock and discuss some of the cars on display. Members who had brought others British classics also came by to say hello: Marty Hovivian drove his Jaguar E-type coupe, Dave Beugen showed his beautiful Rolls convertible, and Rich Jones drove his BRG Tiger. Rich also promised to have his Healey at May’s Super Car Sunday. Other club members who showed up to catch up with the club and check out the cars were Charlie Hart, Larry Bryant, and Bert Van Brande.
The sponsors of this event did another outstanding job. There was music throughout the day, an expresso and coffee truck was on hand early to satisfy the caffeine cravings, lunchtime brought many food trucks including burgers, Mexican food, wings and grilled cheese sandwiches, and for dessert, shaved ices and shakes and sodas.
An overall great outing and to top it off club member Marty Hovivian was awarded “Best British Car” for his Jaguar – too bad he didn’t drive his 100!